


SForce

by Scedasticity



Series: Crossover Sburb Sessions [12]
Category: Homestuck, Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - SBURB Fusion, Multi, throwing you in the homestuck deep end
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-10-07 07:19:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17361482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scedasticity/pseuds/Scedasticity
Summary: No one is ever really prepared for SBURB, but some backgrounds are worse than others.





	1. Premise

(Does it really have to be an AU?

Half these kids are supposed to be murdered at the end of the Clone Wars anyway. Three more could realistically be killed at any time — too many people don't really see them as _people_. One more has a risky job, and the last one, well, his parents' position _might_ be as secure as he thinks it is. Maybe.

And with the Reckoning distributed across nine planets, many of them with orbital defense systems — it's not _that_ big a calamity. Undesirable, yes. Very strange, also yes. But there's a war on. Things are destroyed. People disappear. It happens.

It's not important enough for anyone to remember.)

* * *

(Being one of Skaia's 'Heroes' is always a difficult position to be in, even in ideal circumstances. But it interacts particularly poorly with Jedi Temple training.

Trust in your elders and leaders until they deem you ready — and suddenly you are ripped away from them.

Suppress the ego, no desires, no wants — and suddenly _everything is about you_ , whether you like it or not.

But worse than that is perceiving the world around them through the lens of the Force. Everything about the Medium is bizarre and unnatural, life flickers into being from nothing as new planets appear. Reality isn't real anymore. And it is _using you_.

Every session is railroaded down the alpha timeline. Most players can't _tell that_ going in.

What are the consequences of seeing _too much_ when you look at Skaia? At the Furthest Ring?)

* * *

_Heroes in entry order:_

Kes Del Ahto, Jedi padawan, Rogue of Time. Derse dreamer; Land of Pits and Pendulums; consorts are bats; sprite is a translator droid T1-016 "Teeone"; "house" is the small-ish courier ship she was traveling on with her Master, surrounded by a little bit of urban landing bay; no ridealongs. Started the game believing it to be a training simulation. Went grimdark approximately forty minutes after waking up on Derse, a few hours after entering the Medium, less than a day after the entry chain started. Stayed grimdark for quite some time. Eventually came out of it, went god tier, and started time traveling to try to keep the session on track. 

Reshay pon-Resh, Jedi padawan, Heir of Space. Prospit dreamer; Land of Webs and Frogs; consorts are large spiders who have to be talked out of cocooning all the frogs; "house" is treehouse guest house on heavily forested planet; sprite is catlike pest-catching domesticated animal that came with the guest house, and it needs to be talked out of hunting the spiders; no ridealongs unless you count the juvenile offspring of the pest-catching domesticated animal. Started the game believing it to be a training simulation. Force perception plus Space player Skaia dreams equals severe information overload and a pretty nasty depersonalization episode. Fortunately he already had a “friends with benefits”/“totally not an attachment we are padawans in good standing we would never do that” Thing going on with the Bard of Doom, and leaning on that is stabilizing. 

Kiriata Veyd, Jedi padawan, Seer of Void. Prospit dreamer; Land of Mist and Vortex; consorts are salamanders; "house" is stilt-house guest house in shallow water; sprite is mounted large fish-thing off the wall; one ridealong of a local who invited himself to visit in hopes of pushing the padawan to commit to interference in local politics when they're there to fight Separatists, not sorry to see HIM kidnapped. Started the game believing it to be a training simulation. After waking up on Prospit and seeing Skaia, makes what she believes to be a rational decision to turn to the dark side in order to destroy the game. It takes a while to for this to be dealt with. 

Nalbir Ikubwe, Jedi padawan, Bard of Doom. Derse dreamer; Land of Bones and Pitchers; by 'pitchers' it means giant pitcher plants and it's kind of disturbing; consorts are iguanas; "house" is his rooms in the Temple; sprite is a cleaning droid not normally able to talk which is apparently really enjoying the opportunity to share all of its opinions; no ridealongs. Started the game believing it to be a training simulation. Decides that waking up on Derse would clearly be a terrible idea, so he will avoid it by only micronapping. Doesn’t so much have a dark side fall as a series of close calls, plus deciding fuck the Code about halfway through. 

Miry Yivan, Jedi padawan, Sylph of Life. Derse dreamer; Land of Tides and Cyanobacteria; consorts are (sea) turtles; "house" is the annex of a field hospital which they did try to evacuate when they saw the meteor incoming; sprite is a medical droid; several ridealongs. Started the game believing it to be a training simulation. More in tune with Living Force normally, and freaking out about how cavalierly the game treats living things, not to mention disoriented by things like sensing the effects of additional entries, are dreamselves alive exactly, etc. Abandons questline to try to get Prospit and Derse to make peace. 

CT-1017 a.k.a. Cloudy, cadet Clonetrooper - Knight of Heart - Started the game believing it to be a training simulation. Feels desperately isolated due to absence of other clones. When he gets more information about the whole setup, freaks out because he feels like he has more in common with the carapacians, runs away to Battlefield, eventually located camped out with WV. Prospit dreamer (dreamself killed by Kiriata very shortly after awakening); Land of Mirrors and Blossoms; consorts are kakapos; "house" is the Kaminoan medlab where he was getting a broken ankle fixed; sprite accidentally prototyped with an extremely freaked-out Kaminoan killed during entry who isn't taking it well.

Sheni Redrock, Tatooine slave, Witch of Hope. Prospit dreamer (dreamself managed to escape being murdered); Land of Logs and Lichen; consorts are squirrels; "house" is slave quarters but actually a house for a change; sprite is an overseer who REALLY isn't taking it well; half-dozen or so younger ridealongs. Started the game believing it to be something dangerous she wasn’t supposed to be messing with. Brought along a half-dozen or so other slaves her age or younger. The game really hasn’t made her life worse in any way. 

Selwé Eniterre, Naboo Handmaiden, Maid of Light. Derse dreamer; Land of Snow and Steam; consorts are rabbits; "house" is upscale hotel room; sprite was personal data assistant which may have been a mistake; no ridealongs. Started the game believing it to be a game. Feels like she deserted her post, and this is absurd, but since we’re here we should try to win. 

Evander Daliet, separatist heir, Prince of Blood. Derse dreamer; Land of Glass and Scaffolds; consorts are nakkodiles; house is actual house and it's rather large; sprite prototyped with a piece of jewelry containing gems made from compressed ashes of like four generations of ancestors which was definitely a mistake; ridealongs of a single younger sibling and some servants. Started the game believing it to be a game. Feels very outnumbered by all the Jedi, especially since they all seem to be losing it. 

Teyla Aalit, Coruscanti criminal, Mage of Breath. Prospit dreamer (dreamself killed by Kiriata); Land of Shear and Diamonds; as in windshear; consorts are gila monsters; "house" is a parking garage office she was squatting in; sprite is a reprogrammed traffic cop droid; no ridealongs unless you count a bunch of single-occupancy vehicles with very distraught owners back on Coruscant. Started the game believing it to be a game. On the one hand they definitely need to win this thing and the handmaiden and separatist heir are the only others who seem to be paying much attention to that, but on the other hand they’re arguing constantly and no one is paying her to mediate fights about a war she doesn’t care about.


	2. Fragments I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These snippets may or may not be in chronological order.

**== > BE THE MAID OF LIGHT**

You went to no small amount of trouble setting up the text messaging server and making sure everyone could access it. It seemed like a good idea for everyone to have a way to keep in touch without the complication of scheduling live conference calls — besides, on the call you managed to orchestrate, Aalit, Daliet, and Redrock were apparently mutually unintelligible for some reason. (They all have noticeable accents, and not the same accents, but you didn't think it was _that_ bad.)

It would be nice if people _used it_.

By which you do _not_ mean Aalit hacking it and seizing control apparently for the sole purpose of repeatedly changing everyone's screennames. And no, you do _not_ primarily object to that because she reverted those of you who met on the Multiplayer Match forum to the screennames you had at the time and now everyone can tell not only that you were a fan of the _SteamShips_ computer game franchise but who your favorite character is, although you admit you're not happy about that. It's just really rude and disrespectful all around.

SaveArchelTenz1016: Change it back  
speedbeforeweed: no  
SaveArchelTenz1016: A Jedi turning to the Dark Side is a horribly tragic and also incredibly dangerous occurrence  
speedbeforeweed: fuck you i am WELL aware of that  
speedbeforeweed: she murdered my fucking dreamself  
SaveArchelTenz1016: So it should be taken SERIOUSLY  
speedbeforeweed: i am taking it seriously  
speedbeforeweed: it is a very serious sitrep  
SaveArchelTenz1016: But think about how the other Jedi must feel about your trivializing this!  
pr1ncech4rming: fuck the jedi  
SaveArchelTenz1016: Shut up, Daliet.  
speedbeforeweed: i bet they feel the same way i do  
speedbeforeweed: although i think at most one of them get their dreamself murdered  
FuckFuckFuck: DREAMSELVES ARE AN ABOMINATION CREATED BY THE ENTITY DISGUISED AS A GAME  
FuckFuckFuck: THEY MUST BE OBLITERATED OR THEY WILL CONTINUE TO SUFFER  
pr1ncech4rming: SHIT  
SaveArchelTenz1016: …  
SaveArchelTenz1016: Padawan Veyd?  
FuckFuckFuck: I HAVE GIVEN UP THE RIGHT TO THAT TITLE  
FuckFuckFuck: ALL THAT MATTERS IS DESTROYING SKAIA  
speedbeforeweed: you didnt used to type in all caps did you?  
pr1ncech4rming: Considering how that other Jedi's typing has been slithering off the screen I don't know why you think this is noteworthy  
pr1ncech4rming: I'm more concerned about the psycho Jedi still being on the chat at all  
speedbeforeweed: scuse me a second  
FuckFuckFuck: DALIET  
FuckFuckFuck: DO NOT GET IN MY WAY  
pr1nce2stupid2live: I don't take orders from Jedi.  
pr1nce2stupid2live: HEY!

* * *

**== > BE THE KNIGHT OF HEART**

You hoped to join the ranks of the Prospitian army, but evidently to them it doesn't matter that you're a clone like them, made for a purpose like them — you're still a Hero. Heroes aren't supposed to fight in the war, not until they take on the Black King.

You thought about going and trying to kill the Black King by yourself, then, even though you're not trained for that sort of mission. Carapacians don't seem to have any blasters. You aren't certain about all the Agents, but their armies don't seem to have _any_ projectile weapons. You could pose a threat at a considerably greater distance than anything they should be expecting.

Then again, the King is _very_ large and presumably quite robust. There may not be any place you could kill with a single shot. (…Especially considering the prototyping influence of at least two different kinds of droid.)

All the Prospitians you talk to on the Battlefield encourage you to visit the castles — find _quests_ there, find _lore_ , find _secrets_. They just don't seem to be able to understand that _you aren't made for that_. Dersites mostly avoid you.

The Warweary Villein, however, lets you rest on his farm without asking any awkward questions. After you scare away a couple of patrols from trampling his pumpkin patches, you get invited to stay as long as you like.

So you do.


	3. Fragment 2

==> BE THE BARD OF DOOM

"And also," Deconsprite says, "sweeping the crumbs under the desk does _not_ count as cleaning and is _not_ a valid fine control exercise. I have been active for years, I know what fine control exercises are."

"I only said that once and it was ages ago," you say, despite having vowed to stop arguing with Deconsprite. (Because if the cleaning droid has always been aware enough to have _opinions_ it is probably entitled to them, and if it's actually a function of the SForce module there's just no _point_.)

…Speaking of crumbs, you're hungry. You grab an energy bar out of your desk drawer—

Right. You scan it for its alchemiter code and note the the code before eating it. Shendi Redrock's relentless demands for codes for anything she notes anyone else using are _annoying_ , but she has a very good point so you've been dutifully contributing to the joint database. You know you're very fortunate to have been pulled out of _home_ , with your own food stashes and keepsakes. (Also all of Master Marcav's personal items, but you haven't quite dared poke around in there yet. You hope she's all right. The healing section of the Temple is well-protected and there didn't seem to be any indication of major Coruscant disaster, but you're still concerned.)

Also _Miry_ is lucky that she gets to _build_ off your little section of temple, made of durasteel which can definitely support buildings of great height. You have some serious concerns about the lightweight wood of the guesthouse where Kiriata was staying. You're sure there has to be some unnatural, unstated strengthening of the structures built, or else it would be unrealistic to expect "players" with no training in engineering to plan such tall structures, but you don't know how it works. Just one more thing to worry about.

Kiriata is asleep, now, in one of the guesthouse hammocks. She's going to try to 'wake up' on Prospit, and… scout it out. Possibly most significantly, she wants to try to find out what happened to Reshay, on Prospit — because he's been struggling ever since he started having the Prospit dreams, long before the Medium swallowed you all, though it got substantially worse then. He insists nothing is wrong.

There was almost a debate over who would try to investigate, with Kiriata saying she wanted to because they'd been in the same youngling clan, and Miry saying that meant she was too close, and you biting your tongue not to ask to go because _you have no claim on Reshay beyond camaraderie_. (It's _not_ an attachment, it's not love, you were just hormonal adolescents helping each other out who stayed friends. That's _all_.) But it turns out you and Miry are both Derse dreamers, so it has to be Kiriata.

…At some point someone is going to have to figure out whether Derse has anything to do with what happened to Kes. At some point you're going to have to figure out what happened to Kes. You've only seen her - what became of her — once. Your first impulse was to say it was the Dark Side, but that doesn't quite feel right.

You can still feel Kes as a seething tangle of _wrongness_ , somewhere… somewhere on Derse's moon, you think. It's far away, and close by a faint echo of Miry's presence and a faint echo of _your own_ presence which is very strange. The other two player dreamselves there, distinct from the carapacians around them, are agitated enough that you're pretty sure they're active-as-dreamselves right now (which explains why you haven't gotten any memos from Eniterre in a few hours). You're not sure which is Eniterre and which is Daliet.

You pull back. You have a very bad feeling about looking too hard at Derse.

There's Miry on the Land of Tides and Cyanobacteria. Feels like she's trying to meditate. And Reshay, on the Land of Webs and Frogs, probaby asleep. You don't look too hard there, either. Carapacians feel weird, but consorts feel weirder. Alive, but… lightweight, somehow.

Speaking of consorts, you should probably go out and rescue some more of your iguanas from pitcher plants— No, not your iguanas, the iguanas on your planet— _No_ , not your planet, the _planet on which SForce deposited you_. It isn't yours. You are a Jedi, nothing is _yours_.

(But if it was made for you how can it not be yours?)

You briefly check out Prospit first. Lots of carapacians, quiescent echo of the future clonetrooper, two more players, one active and one not, and there's Reshay, awake in his dreamself but still so _flattened_ , and there's Kiriata—

There's something—

In seconds, _seconds_ , Kiriata's presence washes light to gray to unmistakably Dark.

You open your eyes to look at the display. Kiriata frowns, and tries to roll over in the hammock.

On Prospit, there's a spike of shock from Reshay, and then he's not there anymore and there's a spike of shock from Reshay on the Land of Webs and Frogs. Did he wake up? No, no there's not even an echo of his presence on Prospit not, his dreamself is _dead_ —

The clonetrooper's echo abruptly gains intensity, and then it's gone, too.

Your comm beeps, and your field experience has you grabbing it even though you want to just sit and not move and hope everything goes away. "Nalbir here."

"Did you," Miry stutters, "did you feel that?"

"Yes," you stutter right back. "She's just, Prospit, but she's just _sleeping_ , and Reshay—"

The asleep-on-Prospit player is suddenly awake on Prospit, and then gone.

"She's killing the other dreamselves," you say. "I don't, I don't know what _happened_ —"

You break off as Kiriata's primary presence jumps from Prospit back to the Land of Mist and Vortex.

Her eyes snap open.

"How was Prosp—" her sprite starts to ask, but Kiriata summons her lightsaber and cuts the sprite to _pieces_.

She doesn't seem angry. She seems very calm.

Then she looks directly at your point of view, and there's so much _rage_ in her eyes—

"I don't expect you to understand," she says evenly. "But this thing needs to die. So I'm going to kill it."


End file.
